Peasant Soldier
by ChakraSwirls
Summary: Ariana Takeda is an old friend of Four's coming to invade his life again. Five saw Ari in the memories she gleaned from Four's life, but how will Four deal with a piece of his past coming to stay in his present when he doesn't fully understand that piece? Will she threaten his quest for revenge? Post-Season 1
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own the awesomeness that is Dark Matter. Only Ariana.**

The cell door swung open and I was shoved in. I tripped from the force and fell to the floor of the room onto my hands and knees with a grunt. I quickly got to my feet and swung around ready to hurl insults at my captors, but they were already slamming the door shut. Instead I took in my surroundings and saw five other people in the room. Three men and two females. One of the men looked a little too wimpy and kind to be in here, but still ready to defend himself. He stood next to a very fierce looking woman and a young, blue-haired girl. Next to her was an intimidating looking man and lastly my eyes landed on my prize.

I felt excitement burst through my heart and veins as I ran toward the last man, my true emperor, Tetsudo Ryo. I wrapped my arms around his neck in a hug, and I could feel him tense. Probably due to the fact we were around these other people. As I pulled away to look at him and grabbed his forearms, I said to him, "Finally! I finally caught up to you, Ryo."

He looked at me very confused, like he didn't know me at all. Suddenly the blue-haired girl jumped forward a little bit, recognition written all over her face, confusing me even more. "Ari-san!"

Ryo's head whipped over to look at the younger girl and then back to me with wide eyes. "What? Ari-san… You mean.."

"The girl I told you about, Four."

"What?" Intimidation Man decided to chime in on our conversation. "What girl? Who are you and what are you doing here?"

"I'd like to know that myself," said Ryo, staring me down.

His question stung more than I was willing to admit. I didn't know how this other girl knew me or my name, but that wasn't important right now. "I came to find you. I don't know if you'd noticed, but I became wanted as a co-conspirator in your assassination of the emperor."

"But I didn't assassinate my father."

"I know that. Obviously. And obviously I'm not guilty of my crimes given that you didn't even commit yours. I was set up. You know how well-hated I am among the royal court and especially by your step-mother. I'm sure she set it up."

Ryo grunted a little in agreement. "That and much more.."

Brief confusion passed through me before the "intimidating" one started yapping again, "So who are you exactly?" I could have sworn I saw some semblance of relief flit across Ryo's face, but couldn't be sure.

"..Ryo who are these people?"

"Well we call each other by numbers. The younger girl is Five, the other woman is Two." Pointing to the smaller man, "One." Lastly he gestured to the one that kept speaking, "Three. And I'm called Four. We were all on a ship together and got captured together. They're my friends."

"Um okay.. Well Three, I'm Ariana Takeda. I used to be one of the top soldiers under Ryo's command, before this whole assassination mess we've found ourselves in. After I finally gave the authorities the slip for what I thought would be for good, I came looking for him. Before was just too dangerous." I wasn't sure how much else would be appropriate to share with these people.

One spoke up, "How'd you get caught?"

I stared at him for a minute. Everyone stared back at me, like I was an outsider, even Ryo. Feeling that look from him hurt so much. We'd been so close. "I purposely got caught." Their stares turned incredulous.

"Why would you do something so stupid?" I wasn't sure how I felt about Two's snide tone.

"Ryo, of course. Someone of his infamy gets a lot of news coverage. I saw the news about how he'd been caught and I decided to come out of hiding."

Two's tone remained snide, "And you didn't think about maybe trying to break him out instead of becoming a prisoner yourself?"

I felt my cheeks heat up a little bit. I don't know why. I had a plan damn it. "Well.. if I had, you wouldn't be becoming part of my plan to break out from the inside. And then your asses would be stranded, or worse yet my plans would be foiled and we'd all be stuck in here anyway." I could feel the smug smirk tugging at my lips.

"That works for me," said Three. He's an interesting character, I can tell. Lots of bravado, but a lot of hidden heart. He thinks that no one notices the concerned looks he kept throwing Ryo. I did, though I'm not entirely sure the reason why he was. "So what's the plan? I hope it involves kicking Six's ass. That traitor. And getting my guns."

Whoever Six was, screw him. I wanted to get out clean and not chance Ryo's or my own safety for some petty revenge. Getting distracted by such things wasn't how I was able to rise to the top of the Tetsuda's military despite not being wanted there. I opened my mouth to lay out the plan, at least in a subtle way I hoped Ryo would understand and be able to get his new friends to follow. No doubt there were cameras and microphones in here and that there were people listening on the other end for just such a moment. Before I could get any words out however, the cell door slammed open and several men flooded into the room, holding guns at Ryo and his friends while a couple more strutted in and stared me down.

A slight groan escaped my throat and I rolled my eyes. The others were herded into one of the corners by the guys with guns while I was left in the middle alone. "I don't suppose you want to shake my hand and give me a pat on the back for being a good girl and turning myself in, do you?"

They chuckled darkly, and the one that seemed to be of highest rank held his hand out to me. I stared at it for a minute with caution before putting my hand into his, already knowing what was going to happen. He snapped me forward burying his other fist into my face and I crashed to the ground, blood gushing from my nose. I could hear the gasps and protests from the group in the corner, but none of them were stupid enough to brave the guns to come to my aid. Except for the young girl, Five was it? But One and Two held her back.

The men without guns out started to circle me. "You've caused us a lot of trouble," said the leader. I got up on my hands and knees and looked up, staring down the patch on his arm that displayed the Galactic Authority logo. I hardened my expression and stood up. As soon as I reached my full height, a knee planted itself into my stomach and the air painfully rushed from my lungs. "You've killed a lot of us. And that stunt where you faked your death, we were all so sad to hear of your passing." My hair was yanked on, forcing me to look my attacker in the eye. "Every GA officer in this building wants to be in our place right now. Especially now that we know you didn't actually die. It means two of our own and some other woman burned to death instead of you, you little bitch." I spat in his face, earning me another punch that caused my mouth to start bleeding. That's when the lot of them decided to join in and beat me at the same time.

I don't know how long it went on for. Eventually they stopped, spat on me, and backed out the door, slamming it shut again. Groaning, I clawed my way over to the wall to try and find some support to stand up with. Before I reached it though Ryo and Five were helping me up. I spat some of the blood onto the floor to get rid of the excess fluid in my mouth. Ugh. It'd been a while since I'd taken a beating like that. Hiding meant avoiding foes. A chuckle bubbled up through my chest. Everyone gave me a weirded-out look until I discreetly showed them the key card I was palming.

 **To be continued…**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Dark Matter, just Ari-san.**

I began coughing hard. Ryo and I were in one of the corners near the door to our cell, facing the corner while he half-pretended to console me. Everyone else was scattered around the room. Once I'd shown them the card I had stolen from my abusers, I'd signaled everyone to relax and act natural. Blood splattered onto the wall Ryo and I were turned towards. I could see his concerned look out of the corner of my eye, but focused on the task at hand. Suddenly there was a strange sensation in my throat and my gag reflexes kicked in. Blood and vomit spewed out of my mouth, along with a piece of string that came sliding out of my throat. Ryo held back my long, black hair from falling into the mess I'd made. I grabbed the end of the string hanging out of my mouth and pulled at it slowly, coughing it the rest of the way up.

Everyone in the room was disgusted, and Three of course had to speak up, "Damn, Four. This girl's really gotta carry a torch for ya to be willing to go through all this." Ryo hummed his agreement while rubbing my back. I stripped the excess matter from the string and stuck it through the hole in the keycard, tying it off. Ryo gave me a questioning look, then looked over at the door when I made a motion at it and realization dawned upon his face when he saw that there were openings on the door.

"Smart… Are you sure this is going to work?"

"No. But it's our best shot without casualties on our side. Be ready. It won't be long before they get here." I practically threw the card through one of the openings. The force of my throw helped it to swing as I held onto the other end of the string and suddenly there was a chiming sound and the door popped open. We all ran through the doors, me in the lead. "This way! We're getting our weapons before we get out of here."

I'd kept the card and swiped it over the keypad of a door down the hall from our cell. Slamming the door open, I looked around wildly for our weapons, finding them in a locker nearby. An ancient padlock stood in our way. Who the hell would still use one of those? Three picked up a chair and slammed it down on the padlock hard as he could and it snapped off. We all grabbed what we'd lost due to our incarceration. I had my sword and two guns, Five got her small handgun, and the others all had their own variation of gun they pulled out of the locker. I wasn't really much of an expert regarding guns. I'm more of a sword kind of gal. At that moment the alarm started blaring.

"Okay. Time to move! They'll be here any second!" We ran back into the hallway. Soldiers came around the corner at the far end, prompting us to run around the nearest corner where I took the lead again. The person with the plan should do that right? I hoped with every fiber of my being I wasn't leading us to our doom. Just as we were about to turn another corner, shots fired narrowly missed us. One stray bullet buried itself into side causing me to stumble into the opposite wall. Oof! That stings… a lot. Fuck! Ryo skid to a stop and backtracked real quick, placed my arm around his neck and helped me to run. One and Three slowed to shoot behind us to buy me some time. That was nice. I'd have to make it up to them if we all lived to make it out of here. Two took the lead. It was a natural look for her, so I assume she tends to lead this group.

"Wait!" Five slowed down. "What about Android?!"

Two grabbed Five by the arm to drag her down the corridor. "Later! We'll come back if we have to, but if we don't leave now we'll never get out here." We came to another door that required a key. I flashed the card in front of the pad and the door slid open. The hanger! Yes! The relief that flooded my body allowed the pain to come too. Ugh. Just a little farther. Five opened up the Raza before any of the soldiers in the room could react. Surprise is such an asset in these situations. Bullets started flying in the room as we entered the ship.

The Raza closed up behind us. Since I didn't know anything about this ship I felt like I could leave the rest of the escape up to the others. My body decided it'd had enough and the pain hit me in full, my legs giving way to gravity. Ryo stopped and leant me against the wall of the ship as the others ran down the corridor for the bridge. I finally looked down at the wound. Blood was smeared across my torso. "Well that's just great. I knew I'd get that beating, but I was really hoping I wouldn't get shot. Damn it!" I placed my sword and guns down next to us. "We might as well keep an eye on the door in case they try to get in. Make ourselves useful and all that."

Ryo took off his shirt and pressed it against my wound. Oh dear. My eyes couldn't help but drift across his torso and my heart beat a little faster for a different reason than the more urgent position we were in. He was just so… so damn attractive! Even in a crisis like this I couldn't help but be distracted by him. That's what made Ryo so dangerous for me, and I'd forgotten just how dangerous.

Banging started up against the door we were sitting in front of. I placed my hand on top of the one Ryo was using to apply pressure to my wound. "You can let go. I've got it. No sense in immobilizing yourself." Ryo removed his hand, leaving me to apply the pressure, and grabbed my sword. He got up and stared at the door, ready for whatever occurred. I myself clutched a gun and aimed it at the door. Before the soldiers could manage to get the door open though, the whole ship shook and Ryo and I heard screams on the other side of the door and the Raza shuddered. It felt like we started moving and there was a scraping sound like metal against metal.

" _We've blown a hole into the Galactic Authority ship using our weapons and are jumping to FTL now. We're out of here, guys._ " It was Two over the comm system. Ryo and I relaxed. There was nothing else we could do. It was all up to the bridge.

"We need to get your side taken care of." Ryo helped me up and walked me to the infirmary. He set me down on the bed in the middle of the room. He went over and pressed a button, "Five we need you down in the infirmary as soon as possible." Ryo peered over his shoulder at me for a moment before making his way back to my side. He looked conflicted. "I don't know what else to do."

"What do you mean? You've done plenty."

"I mean… Look Ariana-san." Woah. He never called me that. Not anymore at least. "There's something you have to know about everybody on this ship." Uh, this isn't weird at all. What are they doing, having one big orgy? I hoped not. For one, Five seemed a little too young for an orgy. "None of us have any memory of what happened to us before being on the Raza a few months ago." Not my first guess, but at least it wasn't an orgy right? Memory loss… oh boy. "I'm telling you this because apparently I'm supposed to be able to trust you." To which I nodded my affirmation of that statement. "It turns out that Five has our memories, and she's remembered some of my life. She remembers you." Oh, well that explained a lot. Ryo's confusion and Five's recognition of me. What the hell did she tell him that he reacted the way he did when she said my name in the cell though? "She said she remembered us… together. I just wanted to clear the air on that matter. I feel it's important to let you know that since I don't remember anything about you that maybe we shouldn't be together. It's not-"

I cut him off, "Woah woah. Woah there, Ryo. Wait. Us together? We've never been together."

Ryo froze, "Well that's awkward. My apologies. But Five said that she saw us kissing in my memories."

"Well, we've had our moments." I couldn't look him in the face. This was a subject we'd never touched on and it was certainly embarrassing. But he deserved to know. "There's always been something between us, at least I thought so, but it never went further than a few stolen kisses in the heat of the moment. We've both always known nothing could ever come of it. Your father, the royal court, none of them would understand a relationship between their crowned prince and some girl with a third class background. Not to mention I'm half offworlder. The scandal…" I let out a small chuckle and then decided to risk a peek at his face. He had such a serious face. Ryo was always so serious. I could count the times he'd relaxed in my presence on one hand. I couldn't hold back my sigh. "So you see, you don't have to worry about a thing regarding us. I'm just a simple, loyal soldier at your beck and call."

Ryo hesitated a little bit, looking into my eyes, and settled for a simple nod. "With that settled, it'd be a good idea to clean up your cuts. I can do that much while we wait, as a thank you for helping us."

He pulled over a cart, opened one of the drawers, and took out medical supplies for my cuts and bruises. The bullet had gone all the way through and the pressure kept my bullet wound safe. All I needed was someone who could use the proper machinery for healing gunshots. I supposed that was Five, pretty impressive for such a young girl. While Ryo was finishing up with my cuts, the door slid open and in walked Five.

"We managed to escape and hide behind some debris while the others decide where we should go. They want to talk to you on the bridge, Four," Five informed us as she gathered up the needed machinery to regenerate my tissue, patching me up just like a leaky pipe. It felt so impersonal, but I think I'd take full range of motion before wanting to feel like a human being for now.

Ryo looked at Five, nodded, and then turned his eyes back to me. "I'll see you later. Then if you wouldn't mind, you could fill in some more blanks for me. Obviously Five only got snapshots that leaves much to be misinterpreted." I blushed a little bit as he left the room. Oh my. Yes, misinterpreted indeed.

As Five was patching me up, she said, "What did he mean by that?"

My gaze turned to her. "Oh nothing. Just about how you told him that we were together because you saw memories of us kissing. But we're not."

Five looked a little startled by that. "What?! But why were you kissing if you're not together?" I felt the heat rising in my cheeks. "Are you okay? You look a little flushed."

"Well of course I'm flushed. We're talking about my relationship status with my prince. As in the one I serve." The one I like. Like a lot. "You wouldn't understand, hun." Five grew a little cold at my words. Must've struck a nerve. "Anyway, fact is that we're not together. Never have been. Never will be."

Five graced me with a skeptical look that grated on my nerves. She was quiet for a while, and when she finished with my tissue regeneration, she turned to leave. She stopped after walking out the door and said over her shoulder just as the door was sliding shut, "You're not the girl I remember from his memories."

Ouch. No, I'm not. So much has happened since the last time I'd seen Ryo before we were fugitives. I used to be so lovesick over him, even knowing that nothing could ever happen. He made this thrill run down my spine and my heart skipped so many beats half the time I wondered if I was gonna make it whenever I was within ten feet of him. It was so silly to fall apart at his touches after all I'd gone through to attain my position in the military. Now though, I couldn't afford such things. Ryo needed me as a soldier he could use to get his throne and his revenge. And now he needed me to be there as an advisor of sorts I suppose, given that he can't remember what's happened in detail. Those snapshots obviously couldn't be trusted. That meant no more drunken kisses, and no more heart palpitations damn it!

 **To Be Continued…**


	3. Chapter 3

Apologies for how long this has taken. A mixture of time periods where I have loads of stuff to do and my naturally lazy nature stood in the way. But I re-read the fic to refresh my memory on what I wrote and damn I love this story. I have more time to focus on this and my novel now, for a while at least.

 **Disclaimer: I don't own anything except Ariana.**

Currently I was standing in the kitchen making breakfast for everyone. Apparently this ship had an Android that made dinner and she wasn't here. Also, I owed One and Three for taking the heat for me after I slowed down the group by getting shot. I could tell today was going to be long and discussion-filled. A small sigh escaped as I finished breakfast and laid it all out on the table in the dining room.

At that point, One and Two walked in together. They stopped with surprised stares at the food on the table. Their gazes shifted between me and the food a few times. By then, Three and Ryo joined us. Three was the first to speak up. I'm not sure if that surprised me or not… "Woah! How the.. Nevermind, I don't care. Thanks!" He sat down and started digging in. Ryo nodded his thanks and followed suit. I'd made powdered eggs, grits, and pulled out some of the dried meat that managed to survive being left alone on the ship. The foods themselves don't sound all that appetizing, but I could do wonders with food after fighting in the war effort for the Empire.

One smiled at me. "Wow. An escape plan and breakfast. You're a very giving person. It's a nice change from the people we usually run into." 

I smiled, trying to hold in my laughter. A little giggle still escaped. "Yeah. That's me. Climbing the ranks of a military and surviving as a fugitive for years by being giving." I sat down and dug into the fruits of my labor. One and Two sat and started eating.

"You saved us because of your loyalty to Four; I assume the breakfast is for the same reason," Two said quietly. My, isn't she a cynical one…

I felt a little smug that she was wrong. "Nope! We all need to eat, but this is mostly for One and Three being the heroes when I slowed us down. I appreciate not being left behind and still breathing and all that jazz."

One looked touched that I felt that way, which made me want to roll my eyes but I refrained. Three coughed a little and did his best to swallow his food, then chuckled. "I'm flattered, Dollface. It's not every day that someone calls me a hero."

Five chose that moment to join us, freezing as she stepped through the threshold of the entrance. She looked a little sad for a second; I assume she was thinking about the Android, given her desire to stop mid-escape to rescue the poor creature. She decided to quietly join us at the table, causing everyone aside from me to look at her and then each other in concern. After a few bites, Five gave us all a sweeping gaze and asked, "Who made breakfast?"

"I did." Five looked a little surprised, then wary, and finally her expression moved into a small smile. Wow. She definitely was the type to wear her heart on her sleeve. I wager she'll break quite a few hearts in the future, exhibiting such fluid expression like that. Honesty could be brutal sometimes.

"Thank you! This is really good. Where did you learn to cook like this?" Five gushed gratitude.

"During my first war fighting for the Empire. It was a little demeaning at first, because I knew that I was only assigned that duty because I'm a woman. All of the other cooks were androids. It was my superiors' way of mocking my ambitions. But the standard food was so boring and borderline barf-worthy at times that I tried to find ways to spice it up. We were already burdened by war. Our food didn't need to be that way too." I felt a little nostalgic, but shook the feeling away when I noticed the way Ryo was looking at me. Five gazed at me with admiration, while Two gave me a look that suggested some kind of approval. One and Three just made noises of agreement about my last statement past their mouths full of food.

After we'd all finished, One and Five volunteered to do dishes while the rest of us were free to go do what we needed or wanted. I decided to head to my room for a well-deserved nap, until I noticed halfway to my room that Four was following not too far behind. Were his room and the training room (he had to have one somewhere) in this direction? I couldn't remember. This could get awkward fast. I'll just pretend I haven't noticed him.

I reached my quarters, opened the door, stepped in, and was about to close the door, but there he was. Ryo. Standing in my doorway. Staring at me… still staring at me. Okay, this is ridiculous! "Can I help you?" I tried to keep the irritation out of my voice. I hated being stared at.

"I thought we could talk. I'm not really sure how to start this conversation though. I'll just… go."

I stopped him by grabbing onto one of his forearms as he turned. "Wait. I know it's weird for you. It's weird for me too. Trust me." The look Ryo sent me was a knowing one, but he didn't say anything for both our sakes. Neither of us wanted to revisit the subject of our non-relationship. "Okay. So what do you want to know?" Ryo moved into my room and we both sat down after I closed the door. I sat on the bed, while he was on my desk chair.

"How about why my step-mother hates you enough to pin the assassination on you too? And how you plan to help me kill her and my brother." His sharp eyes pierced me.

His second statement rocked me to the core. "Kill your brother?! I have no problem destroying the old hag molecule by molecule, but why would we kill your brother?" 

"He is the one that came out on top with our father's death and my taking the blame for the assassination. Also he was supposed to meet me recently, and instead I received an ambush headed by Akita-san." Suddenly, Ryo looked a little distracted.

"Akita-san? But Ryo, you can't honestly believe that your brother is behind all of that. He's too.. innocent. His mother has to be behind it." It felt weird to have to defend Hiro to Ryo, given how close the two brothers had always been.

"What do you mean? Why do you think he couldn't have?"

"Ryo… You and Hiro have always complemented one another. Between the two of you, he is the light and you are the dark."

Ryo got a little defensive at my comment. "What is that supposed to mean?" Oh my god, he could at least try for some variation in vocabulary. I mean I know he doesn't remember much about his life, but still it aggravated me.

"I mean that you're the one that was stained by politics and war because of how you were being groomed by your father to take the throne. Hiro was just the younger brother. He was pushed to be a good fighter and strategist of course, but last I'd seen him he wasn't stained by the blood of others and his mother kept him safe from the politics. That's the only thing I even remotely like about that woman." I had always been fond of Hiro. The Ishida Empire was full of darkness and, for Ryo and I, spending time with Hiro had always been a reprieve.

Ryo's expression softened, but quickly hardened again. "And what makes you think that he hasn't changed now that he's been made emperor?" I didn't have an answer to that, which Ryo took notice of and he took on a slightly smug expression that I wanted to slap off of his face. "Exactly. So for the moment, we're going to act according to the assumption that Hiro is also our enemy." I wanted to protest, but he was my emperor. It's out of my hands.

"…Fine. As to why your step-mother hates me, well that's a long story. To sum it up she never believed that I should've had the position I did. I was born poor and she believed at most I should be married to a decent man and popping out babies." Renewed rage at remembering that woman's taunting boiled inside of me. "She also noticed how close we were, and that made her hate the both of us all the more. Like I had committed some kind of mortal sin that could have only been made worse if I had slept with a god. And I imagine she felt like you were mocking the throne with our friendship. A lot of people felt that way."

Ryo frowned. "Were we really that close?" I nodded, feeling the past creep its way into my mind a little more. "Tell me." When I looked at him questioningly, he added, "Tell me how we met."

The muscles around my mouth couldn't decide if they wanted to frown or smile at this point. It was a rough time in my life when I met Ryo, but it was the start of everything good that had happened too. "Well we…"

 **To Be Continued…**


	4. Chapter 4

So confession. When I wrote the 3rd chapter, I wrote a shiz ton more. In case any of you are edgy that I might not update for another three months. XD I'm just not posting them all at once, partially because I'm mean and partially because I'm going back to add more to them the further I get into the story. Currently I'm like halfway-ish through Chapter 6.

 **Disclaimer: I don't own anything except for Ari-san.**

 _Ryo frowned. "Were we really that close?" I nodded, feeling the past creep its way into my mind a little more. "Tell me." When I looked at him questioningly, he added, "Tell me how we met."_

 _The muscles around my mouth couldn't decide if they wanted to frown or smile at this point. It was a rough time in my life when I met Ryo, but it was the start of everything good that had happened too. "Well we…"_

"Well we met during my first war, when I was starting out as a cook like I mentioned earlier…

 _We're being ambushed?! I hid underneath a nearby cooking table, away from the volley of fiery arrows. My eyes widened when I noticed exactly what kind of arrows those were. I darted out from the table and dove into one of the, luckily, empty cauldrons where I mass-cooked the food. Just at that moment explosions rocked the cauldron and it toppled over, down the hill it sat next to, and I just tried my damnedest to keep my arms and legs inside this ride at all times._

 _Finally the giant pot stopped rolling and I was dizzy as all hell. Thankfully it had stopped on its side and I could take in at least some of my surroundings. I could see the higher ranks fighting… geez how far did I roll?! These high and mighty bastards are always at the heart of the action. I decided I couldn't stay in the cauldron as it was, so I —_ "

Ryo was laughing his ass off. He'd tried hard not to. Wouldn't want to break that porcelain face, but apparently he couldn't help himself. Suddenly my door slid open and there stood Three with the most weirded out expression I'd ever seen on anyone's face. "….What the hell did you do to him?" Ryo just continued to laugh. "I've heard him laugh before, but not like.. this." Ryo tried to respond, but found it a little too difficult for the moment.

A couple of minutes passed and he finally settled down. "She was just telling me how we met." Ryo retold the story to Three, which left the man nearly on the floor, supported only by the doorway.

Now I'm pissed. "Hey! I'm alive aren't I?! If I hadn't gotten into that stupid pot, I'd be dead." That sobered up the two a little bit, presumably because they'd both been in close calls like that one too. "May I continue?"

"Is the rest of the story that funny?"

I frowned disapprovingly. "No."

"That's my cue then. I'll see you two at dinner. Four. Kitchen wench." My shoe barely missed Three's face as the door closed before the shoe could escape with him.

Ryo gave me one of his cute smile smirks as his amusement died down. God that's sexy. Whoop there goes that damn heartbeat skipping thing. "Anyway, as I was saying…

 _I decided I couldn't stay in the cauldron as it was, so I crawled out with no injuries. A miracle that won't count if I don't make it out of this hellhole alive. I grabbed a nearby fallen soldier's sword and charged at the nearest enemy, running the blade through his heart. I saw another man running at me, sword raised. Quickly trying to free the blade from my milestone first victim, I used my foot to push the corpse's body off and then slung the blade around just in time to slice open my attacker's throat. Blood sprayed across my face making me flinch._

 _When my eyes reopened, I could see all of the higher ranks fighting and being kept busy while one swordsman quietly slipped toward… was that the prince?! Oh shit. Looking around at the bodies on the ground, I found one had some small knives attached to a harness on his chest. Grasping a couple, I flung one as quickly as I could and caught the would-be assassin in his sword arm. He cried out, causing those that were momentarily not busy to look over, including the prince. The guy had gotten pretty close to the royal. Shock, shame, and anger flashed across my leader's face. Oh shit. Suddenly, the assassin turned, knowing his element of surprise was ruined. He started to run for anonymity far away from this particular crowd. I grasped one of the other knives and threw, impaling my target's head and killing him instantly. He had a big melon on his shoulders so it wasn't too hard. Coward. He would've been killed by his side for running away from his objective anyway and that ebbed away most of the guilt that I felt._

 _By now our side had taken control of our camp again and everyone was looking at me. And the Prince. Okay.. well I'll just.. turn this way. I turned and started trying to roll the cauldron back up the hill. This damn thing was my responsibility and I'd be in trouble otherwise. Another set of hands joined mine on the cauldron, causing me to pause. I thought it'd been silent before, but now I swear you could hear the planet turn on its axis. I looked up at the owner of those hands and had a mini-stroke. On the inside of course. It was the future emperor. Oh my god why is he helping me?! My brain function ceased beyond that. I couldn't do anything but continue to roll the blasted pot up the stupid hill._

 _Everyone watched us the whole way. It felt like an eternity. When we finally made it to the top and pushed the cauldron onto its bottom so it'd stay put, the prince turned to me and quietly said, "Thank you." And then that bastard walked away like none of what had just happened was a big deal._

…So that's how we met."

Ryo was all serious again, studying my face as I pulled myself from the memories. We sat staring at each other for a while, until finally Ryo broke the silence. "That was an interesting memory to listen to. I wonder, if I ever get my memories back, if my perspective will be much different on that moment."

"Of course it is. You had just at the very least almost gotten injured, most likely killed. I have often wondered what was going through your head that day though. All I know is what happened after, when we returned home for a time." I smiled almost dreamily.

"And what was that?"

"You convinced your father somehow to let me be promoted to an ever slightly higher rank where I would receive proper training and real battle equipment instead of the pathetic stuff I was supplied with before." The sides of my mouth tugged down at the memory of that crap. With my bungee-expressions I swear one day this face is going to be riddled with the ugliest possible wrinkles. _Sigh._

"You said earlier at breakfast that you were stuck in your position as a cook because your superiors were mocking you for being a woman. But weren't there other females in our ranks?"

"Yes, a few. _But_ they're either all low ranked or noblewomen whose parents already have heirs and aren't all that strict on whether they live or not. Everyone is so content, men included, with their assigned-by-birth stations in life. Most are resigned to it at least. I made my intentions to my superiors clear from the start that I planned on being at the top despite my third class background." Ryo released a thoughtful hum at the information.

"I can see why we might've been friends. Both of us were discontent. Five was able to tell me that much about myself. That the reason that woman got away with her treachery was because I was drunk. Akita-san reiterated that to me when we met as well." A frown marred his beautiful face. I hated it when he frowned like that.

Our heads both tilted an ear toward the ceiling as we heard a crackle and Two on the intercom, "Everyone should meet in the mess hall to discuss what our next course of action should be." Ryo and I both stood from our spots and made our way out of the room. I caught the time on the way out. Wow. We'd been in here for hours now. Perhaps my storytelling is a little long-winded.

We reached the mess hall and found the others already there. Guess my room is the furthest from the food. How unfair. I felt like the unwanted raccoon that digs through the trash in that moment, no matter how ridiculous that notion was. My mind is so random sometimes…

"Okay." Two started once we were all seated. "Five has expressed that she would like to attempt to save Android. I'm in agreement. Sentiment aside, she has been invaluable to keeping this crew alive and the Raza from blowing apart." Everyone, aside from me, was in agreement. Perhaps I would be if I'd even met this thing. I stayed silent though. Whatever Ryo wanted to do, we'd do. Who knows. If we save this Android, then maybe I'd come to feel the same about her that everyone else seemed to.

Three leaned forward in his chair, threaded his hands together, and laid his scruffy chin on them. "So what's the suicide mission plan this time?"

 **To Be Continued…**


	5. Chapter 5

**I only own Ari. Sorry for delay. Hardcore procrastinated on editing this chapter. Glad I didn't just post it though. There were something interesting mistakes XD**

Right now, Five and I stood in a room together, shoulder to shoulder. We were faced with a dark-skinned man that I don't know. The look this man was giving Five though. Seriously intense. Like the sight of Five here right now physically pained him. Look down at the blue-haired girl next to me and she had the same expression the man did. Am I missing something?

The plan was going off without a hitch up to this point. Mostly it involved the others acting as a distraction and shield around the area to give Five time enough to boot up Android and for us to get the heck out of here.

I noticed the android directly behind the hulking man and took a step forward, which prompted him to snap to attention and point his gun at me ready to pull the trigger. Five quickly stepped in front of me. I felt my jaw go slack and I was about to pull her back when she said, "Six, no! We just came for Android. Please stop this!" Her voice was coated with desperation and sadness.

The man, Six. His eyebrows drew together, obviously having an inner battle about what to do here. "I knew you'd come for her. That's why I'm here. To convince you to stop this nonsense, Five. You said it yourself just before the Raza was subdued that Two is dangerous. You were going to shoot her! And now you've gone back into that viper's nest. You aren't one of them. You can have a life still!" Why do I feel like I shouldn't be here? The air reeked of something verging on a lover's spat. He IS too old for her right?

"You're not innocent either, Six. You forget that I spent time in all of the Raza crews' memories. You don't know how wrong you are about them! If they're caught, they'll be executed and there's more to their stories than you know and yet you'd condemn them to die!" Five shook her head in denial and horror. "You're not the man I called my friend. My best friend! You were the only one I thought I knew for sure wasn't a traitor…" Ouch. "I was wrong. Now get out of the way so I can save one of my real friends." Burn. Glad I'm not on the receiving end of these words. I can't even imagine how I'd handle them coming of out Ryo's mouth.

Six took a step toward us, which caused me to tense and my hand inched toward my gun. The door we entered through suddenly opened. I grabbed Five to shield her immediately since I knew nowhere in the plan was anybody from our side supposed to come in here. It'd mean a hole in security. A second later I was proven right when I felt two bullets pierce my shoulder and back. A pained cry escaped my lips as I fell toward the floor. Five was in too much shock to try and keep me standing. I craned my neck and saw her looking at my assailant, presumably because they would now be pointing the gun at her. I reached for the gun holstered on my thigh, but Six beat me to it and shot the person that'd just entered.

I whipped my eyes back to him in shock. He seemed to be equally as stunned. Five took that chance to run toward the Android and quickly hit the sequence she needed to boot up its computer. When Six turned to lay hands on Five to stop her, I drew my gun as quickly as I could and shot Six in the leg and then his hands after he'd fallen to his knee. He screamed in agony. Obviously he meant a lot to Five, so I'd determined killing him was off the table lest I incur the tiny one's wrath.

Suddenly the android sat up from the table and looked around. A sort of blank confusion entered her expression. She saw my gun pointed at Six and his wounds, decided I was the threat and started making her advances to protect her friend who was, unknowingly to her, no longer a friend. Five came to my rescue. "Android, stop! She's a friend. Six is the traitor! Remember!" Android paused in her pursuit of me in the name of vengeance. Instead she continued her way forwards in a less threatening way and picked me up into her arms.

"Great. You carry. I'll shoot," I said to the blonde. Five spared Six a pitying glance and muttered something to him that I couldn't hear. Five pulled out her own gun and followed Android down the hallway. I kept my eyes peeled for trouble. A single soldier came around the corner we were nearing. I went to shoot him, but before I'd even gotten my gun raised enough to shoot him, Five put two slugs in him. Um okay. Someone is definitely in a mood. Can't really blame her though.

We ran into One after taking another turn. Relief flooded his features at seeing Android and the fact that the three of us were here, until he noticed I'd been shot. "Ariana! Are you okay?"

I was getting a little sleepy, but still managed a small smile and a thumbs up. "Almost feels like my birthday. So many fireworks. We know how awesome I…" Woah. Blacked out there for a second.

Android gave me an analyzing look before looking at both One and Five. "She's losing too much blood. If we don't get to the ship in the next ten minutes, there will be nothing I can do for her."

Alarm appeared on both One and Five's faces as I struggled to stay awake. But that didn't happen. One was talking into his comm set to the others when I fell into the darkness.

 _The celebration was in full swing. I caught sight of myself in a mirror. I mostly had the features of those that the people in the Ishida Empire did. The brown almond-shaped eyes, the olive skin (though tanned from being in the sun), and long, black hair. The differences were in my slightly larger hips, larger than average breasts, and the prominent bridge my nose had. When you live in the dirt, nobody really cares. But when you dare to walk the floors of the royal palace having been born into that dirt, it made a lot of people very upset. Many women here tried to scorn me for my offworlder features._

 _I shook those thoughts from my head. If I didn't have fun then this hot little number would go to waste. I'd decided to wear a loose black kimono-type garment that had red flowers sewn along the bottom half with a red robe beneath. Going too tight with a full on kimono never suited me given my less than straight body shape. It was a bit embarrassing, but I was also grateful considering how uncomfortable a full-blown kimono get up could be. This outfit actually teased a little bit of cleavage and hugged my curves just enough for anyone to know they're there._

 _I drew closer to the central group. This was a celebration of victory for our most recent conquest. Glancing around, I could see that many had decided that waiting for me wasn't necessary before they started drinking. A serious insult among this crowd. For the most part I didn't care what these bastards thought. I wanted their respect as their equal, but they'd only give it if hell froze over and then erupted into rainbows and butterflies. One day though, I'd take their respect and they won't have any choice. That thought sated any anger I felt at the slight._

 _I reached my assigned table that sat one tier down from the raised royal table and took the appropriate seat. Everyone at the table begrudgingly saluted me with their drinks. I went to grab one for myself, but my neighbor decided to take it upon himself to pour it for me. "Thank you."_

 _Akita-san. I hadn't noticed him there. He smiled somewhat kindly at me, both drunk and simply over the moon about the victory we'd had. I would say he's never hated me, but still held a deep sense of propriety that kept him from accepting me completely. "It's no trouble. Not pouring your drink would say more about me than you." Ah. His own honor then._

 _I looked up at the head table and caught Ryo's eye as he was chuckling at a joke Hiro told him. It wouldn't do to spend the evening pining after Ryo so I turned back to my tablemates and became engrossed in the partying and laughter. This was as close to camaraderie as I was ever going to get and I might as well enjoy it._

 _Later I found myself stumbling down the hall, hopefully towards my quarters. The party had died down and most of the celebrators had either moved the party or gone to sleep it off a while ago. I'd stayed to drunkenly people watch and it would seem that will be my downfall. Damn it! This doesn't look like the hallway I need. For some reason, my drunken mind felt it was completely okay to just open whatever door I wanted and hope the room was empty, because I don't think there is any way that I will find my rooms tonight._

 _The room I chose was fancy, yet kind of sparse. I didn't get the chance to notice much more than that. Everything started spinning and I had to catch myself on a wooden post that held up the roof. Groaning I stumbled forward hoping to somehow magically land in a bed. Instead I stumbled into something that stumbled backwards a bit trying to keep me steady. A body. A person. Oh boy. This could go all sorts of wrong. "Ari-san?"_

 _My head snapped up, causing more dizziness but I tried to be as steady as possible given the situation. "Ryo? I mean… Sh-stir." Ugh. "You know what I mean."_

 _He chuckled a little and helped me over to the bed. I sat down and felt a little steadier. His bed._

" _Um… This bad, but take me to my room. Got little lost." God I'm so stupid. There were much better ways to put what I just said, but my mouth wasn't cooperating. Or maybe it was my brain. Wait. Did I say that correctly? NOOOO! If I could've been more flushed, I would've been._

" _Yes. Of course." He grabbed one of my arms and put it around his neck to support my weight, only when we stood up we both stumbled a little. Apparently he was drunk too. My body swung around and my back slammed against the nearest wooden post. I hissed. That would hurt like a bitch in the morning if I could feel it that much through this haze. Ryo stumbling into me didn't really help the impact. He grunted. "Sorry. I'm a little drunk too. Just not as much as you."_

 _He raised his head from where it planted into my shoulder and looked at me. Taking in my disheveled appearance, the messy hair and where my yukata had fallen off of one shoulder, Ryo got a somewhat hungry look in his eyes. I'm in so much trouble…_

 _Our lips clashed together in a heated frenzy. He thrust one of his hands into my hair and the other wrapped around the pole I was against to trap me further. I think. Because suddenly there was no space in between our bodies, which was unbelievably hot since I'd pushed his robes apart and let my nails scrape around his sides and up his muscled back. His tongue slipped into my mouth and I responded eagerly, moaning into his mouth which made him even more excited judging by the bulge I felt against my stomach I only wished that my clothes weren't in the way. Ryo broke the kiss and started devouring my exposed neck. I managed to wrap one of my legs around his waist and forced our pelvises close together. Ryo groaned his pleasure into my neck, gripping my thigh with the hand he'd had around the post. My eyes drifted shut, surrendering myself to the unbelievable sensations._

 _The pain in my back from earlier suddenly grew worse—_

I gasped and would've shot straight up if One and Three hadn't been holding me down by the shoulders. The pain in my back was ridiculous.

"Her heart is beating now. Turn her over." I cried out and cursed at them as they manhandled me so that I was laying on my stomach. One gave pathetic apologies that really didn't matter to me at the moment. "The bullet that hit her shoulder went straight through, but the one in her back is lodged in. I will have to remove it. It will be painful." A rolled up rag appeared in front of my face. I could barely see it through my tears. I opened my mouth already knowing what it was for and the hand that held it popped it in-between my teeth, prompting a vicious bearing down on the rag that would've put a shark to shame.

In my line of sight was Ryo. He'd been standing near my head. Looking at him now, all I wanted was to go back to the dream world. That precious memory. Sweaty hair matted against my face, partially obscuring my view of the prince though we still held each other's gaze. I felt a metal device enter the hole on my back and scrape against the bullet, eliciting muffled cries from my throat. The instrument grasped the bullet and was pulled. Hard. Tears obscured my vision of Ryo and my teeth clamped down on the wet rag so hard that it felt like my gums would bleed as I screamed, but the tearing of my back muscle was worse.

Pain zipped its way through my body looking for an exit it wasn't finding. The worst was over. My mouth tightened around the rag once more when I felt the open wounds being doused in antiseptic fluids. Damn this Android!

"I can use the tissue replicator for the shoulder wound, but the back wound should heal as naturally as possible. Once it reaches a safer point, we may use the replicator then without much chance of complications." Great. That meant I was going to be out of commission for a little while. Android informed the guys they could leave. I guess Two and Five were on the bridge, getting us out of harm's way. Most of us. One and Three left when they were told to go, but Ryo stayed in my line of sight as the android patched me up.

Android came into my line of sight when she went to get the dressing for my remaining gunshot wound. I saw her look at Ryo briefly before turning her attention back to the task at hand. Ryo took the rag from my mouth, opened it up, and then the prince began to use the cleaner side to wipe away the tears, snot, and spit off of my face. It was a sweet gesture, but it was so embarrassing that he even had to. "You said my name." What'd he just say? "You died for a minute. When you let out your last breath before your heart stopped, you said my name."

 **To Be Continued…**


End file.
